Tories move to end turbulence and block Air Canada strike

File photo of Air Canada planes grounded at the Toronto's Pearson Airport due to the pilot strike. Air Canada has given notice of a strike starting October 13, 2011 by a union representing its flight attendants.The carrier said CUPE, the union representing the airline's 6,800 flight attendants, rejected a tentative agreement reached with the union's negotiating committee.

Photograph by: TOMMY CHENG
, AFP/Getty Images

OTTAWA — Rob Coombs is just hoping he gets to go away on his honeymoon: a pre-booked tour of Italy and France.

Standing in his way is the threat of a strike by Air Canada flight attendants just after midnight Thursday. Whether he and his wife Lindsay cancel their plans entirely, he said, all comes down to whether the carrier's flight attendants strike.

"I'm holding out hope they don't (strike)," Coombs said from Fredericton, N.B. "Everything's up in the air."

On Tuesday, what was shaping up to be a turbulent week for travellers appeared poised to fade back to normal as the federal government said it was taking its first step in blocking any labour action.

Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt's office confirmed that she will refer the matter to the Canadian Industrial Labour Board on Wednesday.

That move would suspend strike action by the union and buy the government time to pass back-to-work legislation.

Raitt has said the government would be looking at all of its options to prevent job action by the 6,800 flight attendants, who are in a legal strike position as of midnight Thursday.

"The government has considered all its options and we will be referring this labour dispute to the CIRB," Raitt's spokeswoman Ashley Kelahear said Tuesday in an email.

Opposition parties vow they will fight any Conservative government attempts to intervene in a looming Air Canada strike, condemning what they say is a troubling Tory trend of meddling in labour negotiations.

NDP labour critic Yvon Godin said his party will fight any back-to-work bill, but wouldn't say whether the New Democrats will filibuster any such legislation as was the case with the nearly 60-hour marathon during the Canada Post labour dispute.

Liberal labour critic Rodger Cuzner said his party will fight any back-to-work legislation, but won't waste taxpayer dollars and parliamentarians' time with a filibuster.

Frustrated flyers are being hit from two sides this week: the Air Canada strike threat and ongoing job action by security screeners. For a second week, the work slowdown by screeners has caused Toronto's Pearson International Airport to warn passengers to expect delays heading through security.

That job action comes despite a ruling from the industrial relations board that found the job action illegal. On Tuesday, 74 screeners protesting how their schedules are made were told they face termination, fines or prosecution as a result of the job action.

Air Canada's schedule will continue as normal until Thursday, the airline said. If the flight attendants go ahead with the strike, Air Canada will be forced to cancel flights.

"We remain hopeful that a disruption will be avoided, but we continue to make the necessary preparations to minimize any inconvenience to our customers," spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick said in an email.

Even with a change in travel plans, Air Canada re-booked Coombs' flight to Thursday — the day strike action is threatened to begin.

"We're screwed," Coombs said. "It's incredibly frustrating."

Sam Pybus was able to have her flight home to Vancouver rescheduled just in time to avoid a potential strike. She said she called Air Canada and wasn't able to get through, and instead drove to the Ottawa airport to see if she could get a new ticket in person.

"I was praying and had my fingers crossed," she said.

She was scheduled to fly home Tuesday evening. She was told she was lucky — all Air Canada flights were booked solid for Wednesday.

"I thought, I need to get out. You just don't know," Pybus said.

Lyn and Dan James of Calgary arrived early for their flight home Tuesday from Ottawa. Their flight was packed, they said, laughing at their good luck at flying out on time.

"I guess we dodged a bullet," Lyn James said.

The union representing Air Canada's flight attendants on Tuesday repeated its call for the government to stay out of the contract dispute.

While no talks are now taking place, the union said in a media release it was willing to get back to the negotiating table with Air Canada to avoid a possible strike.

"While no formal talks have taken place yet, we are ready to return to the table and find a way to keep our members and the public flying with a fair collective agreement," Jeff Taylor, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said in a release.

One industrial relations expert panned the government's continued reliance on back-to-work legislation.

George Smith, a labour relations specialist from Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., said the move undermines collective bargaining for union members and erodes companies' competitiveness.

A back-to-work bill likely would force the matter to final-offer arbitration, he noted, where the union and management present last offers on lingering issues and an arbitrator sides with one position in its entirety.

"I would argue that companies are equally disadvantaged to unions in this circumstance," he said, adding that Raitt's musings about changes to the labour code make "no sense" to him.

Also on Tuesday, WestJet announced that it would add flights if Air Canada see a slowdown in traffic. Via Rail also announced that it would add trains along the Toronto-Montreal corridor in the event of a work stoppage.

With files from Jason Fekete, Postmedia News, and Scott Deveau, National Post

Story Tools

File photo of Air Canada planes grounded at the Toronto's Pearson Airport due to the pilot strike. Air Canada has given notice of a strike starting October 13, 2011 by a union representing its flight attendants.The carrier said CUPE, the union representing the airline's 6,800 flight attendants, rejected a tentative agreement reached with the union's negotiating committee.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.